Nero Augustine
Nero Augustine was the Capitol Wildcard from District Two. The son of Gemellus Augustine, the CEO of the Augustine Corporation, a company that provides Peacekeepers and the Panem Army with weapons and armor, and his late wife, Agrippina Augustine, the former mayor of District Two. He served as Tribute to District Two for the 69th Hunger Games, which he won, and served as the Capitol Wildcard until the eve of the 75th Hunger Games when he murdered two Peacekeepers to protect his younger sisters. He would join the rebellion and play a vital role in ending the 75-year-long oppression. Biography Early Life and the 69th Hunger Games Nero was born 20 years before the events of the Hunger Games book series to Gemellus and Agrippina Augustine in District Two. His father was a businessman responsible for the manufacturing the weapons used by Peacekeepers and his mother was the Mayor of District Two for much of his childhood, having previously served President Snow in the Capitol prior to marrying his father. He is the oldest of the couple's five children: Drusilla, twins, Octavia and Octavian, Agrippina and Arietta. He, like many tributes who competed his Games, trained at a Career Academy for the Games from a young age as a means to bring honor to his family and District. Nero, however, pushed himself even harder to become the Tribute everyone would read about one day, leading him to excel at both armed and unarmed combat as well as strategy. It was also during this time that Nero began to study people as well, searching for the weaknesses in others. Wildcard The Wildcard is a concept that was created by the Gamemakers as a way to heighten the excitement of the Hunger Games. A tribute, particularly a winner, is selected if they showed a sufficient amount of charisma and skill in the arena. That person is than sent into the Games as a means to thin the herd and make things more interesting. The job is highly dangerous and, according to Plutarch, has "a high turnover". Nero assumed the position following his victory at the 69th Hunger Games after he killed the previous holder of the title. He would be Wildcard until the second rebellion. Events after the 69th Hungers Games The Hunger Games Catching Fire Mockingjay Epilogue Appearance Nero is a tall, handsome young man of nearly twenty when the series begins. He has jet black hair and has dark snake-like eyes similar to President Snow (Katniss takes to calling them 'viper' eyes.) that seem to go coal black when he is sufficiently enraged. He is also very fit, having spent his life training for the Games. Personality Nero, at first glance, can be viewed as everything that would be wrong with the Hunger Games in practice. He is viscous, remorseless and addicted to the hunt. This, along with his arrogance, good looks, skill and dark sense of humor, makes him popular with the viewers and sponsors. However, this is mostly (though not entirely) a persona that Nero has carefully crafted to up his chances at victory. Though incredibly smug and jaded about the situation he is in, at heart, Nero considers himself a family man and warrior first and the Wildcard second. He adheres to a strict code of only battling Tributes he deems worthy and ignoring the weaker ones (though this does abandon them to his compatriots). In addition, Nero is also fiercely protective of his loved ones, brutally honest, bold bordering on madness, perceptive (as he figured out that Plutarch was a rebel before getting any real confirmation and that Johanna was planning something big in the Arena), and fatalistic, knowing that he lives on borrowed time. He is also shown to a have a softer side when he is with his sister, Drusilla, and his other siblings, having once spent an entire night awake when his youngest sister, Arietta, had colic. Skills Nero is a highly skilled fighter – both in armed and unarmed combat – tracker and sharpshooter, having spent years training for the Games in addition to participating in them. He has also proven to be Katniss’ equal in terms of skill with a bow. In addition, he possess an almost superhuman durability and stamina, allowing him to survive things that would kill a normal person. He proved this in all three books when he survived being electrocuted, shot, stabbed and burned and was still alive in the epilogue. He is known to be completely unpredictable on the battlefield, lining the area around him with traps and other accruements to turn the tide in his favor. Relationships Katniss Peeta Johanna President Snow The relationship between Nero and Snow goes back to the time when Nero was a young boy. Agrippina had brought him to the Capitol for the year Mayoral visits and he met Snow for the first time. During this visit, Nero impressed Snow with his ability to locate the hidden passageways inside of the President's Mansion and Snow asked if Agrippina would bring him back every year. Over the years, Snow seemed as if he was grooming Nero to be his protégé as he had trained Agrippina years earlier. Their dynamic changed after Nero won the Hunger Games and Nero agreed to stay on as the Wildcard (as well as Snow's newest assassin). During the Victory Tour, Nero was forced to kill a dissident in District 7, but it went horribly wrong and Nero had to kill everyone in the home. Nero, racked with guilt, tried to get out of the deal, going so far as to tell his mother what had happened, and Snow ordered the murder of Agrippina. The older man had promised more deaths if Nero didn't obey him from then on. Nero agreed, but began to develop a long-simmering hatred for the man he had once called a "friend." He would remain on as the Wildcard and an assassin until the Quarter Quell when he was captured by the rebels. During their final exchange, Nero referred to Snow as "Coriolanus" for the first time – whereas he had called him “sir” or “President Snow” before – and told him that he had always hated him. Plutarch Heavensbee President Coin Gale Family Nero comes from a large family that was headed by his stern, but loving father, who gave his children everything that a life in District Two had to offer. Nero is his father’s right arm in terms of intimidation in business as well as security as Nero’s mere presence frightens people. Nero’s relationship with his mother was extremely close to the point that Snow murdered her and threatened to kill his other family members unless he complied. The death of mother weighed heavily upon Nero to the point where he would tell her spirit to “not look” during the Games and only asked her to look when he decided to join up with Katniss and the others. Nero’s loyalty to his family is the central anchor to his choice to help the rebels (and most of his actions) was done as a means to protect them. He made a deal with the Capitol that he would become their assassin if his siblings were spared from contention in the Games. Of his five siblings, Octavia, Octavian, Agrippina, Drusilla, and Arietta he is closest with Drusilla, stating she is the only one he knows he loves unconditionally as she reminds him the most of their mother. It is the fact that she, along with Agrippina and Octavia, is almost raped by two Peacekeepers that finally pushes the already volatile Nero to rebel. Klaus Murtaugh used his relationship with Drusilla against him, kidnapping her to lure him into a trap. This would lead to the battle that critically injured Nero and allowed the rebels to capture him after the collapse of the force field. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Tributes from District 2 Category:Rebels Category:Victors